Ski binding



Sept. 14, 1948. L. MILLARD 2,449,242

SKI BINDING Filed Jan. '12, 1945 ATTORNEY5 Patented Sept. 14, 1948UNITED STATES 1 j I 2,449,242; I r SKI BINDING,

Everett L. Millard, Highland Park, 111. Application Janu 945;,Sria1No-whim 2 Claims. (01. 2813- 4135)" Thisinvention relates to skibindingsso called,

that is to say, to those devices whereby a skiers shoe is fastened tohis ski, and especially to those bindings that are designed particularlyfor fast downhill running. H

Whereas initially skis were fastened to the shoesquite loosely, thepopularity of downhill running in the last decade or so, and the desirefor higher speeds downhill, has led to the development of bindingswhereby the heel of the shoe is tied down to the ski rather strongly.Usually these devices comprise essentially a cable so called, or otherdevice, that passes around the back of the shoe, usually in a notch inthe heel, and thence passes forwardly and downwardly to points on theski below the foot. Whatever the formoi the heel-tying device however(even when it incorporates a spring to give it some extensibility), itholds the shoe heelto the ski quite strongly since its primary purposeis to permit the skier to lean farther forward than a free heel wouldpermit. Also, asan incident, such devices either'entirely prevent thewithdrawal of the toe of the shoe from the customary toe plates orstrap, or permit such withdrawal only by extending the cable and thisrequiresconsiderable force.

Simultaneously with the increase in the use or such downhill bindings,to call them such, has come a considerable increase in the number of skiaccidents resulting in sprains and broken legs of a certain type, andthe increase in this type of injury has been ascribed to, and seems tohe the result of, the use of this type of binding. Beyond this howeverthe cause of these accidents has not been settled. By some it hasbeenthought that this fault lies in the fact that the fastening of the heelto the ski prevents the ski foldln up to the skiers body as it were,readily, when a fall occurs, and thus on occasion causes a greaterstress on the leg bones than they can stand. In accordance with thistheory it. has been proposed, for example, to provide a trip, actuatedby the instep of the foot whenever the heel is raised to a certainpoint, to releasethe shoe from the toe plates. By others it has beenthought that the broken bones are due to the inability of the shoe toleave the ski readily on the occurrence of twisting stresses on thefoot, as it can do with the older form of binding which fastens the skito the shoe rather loosely. Under this theory ithasbeen proposed tofasten the shoe to the toe plates by pins and notches inclined upwardly"and to the rear, so that on the occurrence of a twist in eitherdirection the foot will be thrust 'bac kwardlyv and thereby, one pin orthe, other thrust out, of its notclnthereby releasing the shoe from theski. It. is to be. noticed however that in all such safety arrangements,so far as. I am aware, the releasing action is dependent on the exertionof suflicientqforce to; stretch the cable or heel binding, or theslipping of the cabl around the heel, or both, and in my opinion both ofthese are undesirable since in themselves they; require the exertion ofconsidera'bleforce and in many instances at least, sufficient force, Ithink, to break a bone.

Regardless of what the correct explanation of the broken bones may behowever, i have, found that my invention substantially overcomes thefault of the downhill type of binding} Briefly my invention contemplatesthe use of; a, downhill type of binding of such 'a form thatthe continuance of the shoe between the toe plates (oriin operating relation totheir equivalent) is required to. keel the, heel "portion of the bindingeffective; so that release of the shoegfr'om the toe plates (or otherdevice performing their, functions? leaves the ski loose on the shoe orpermits the ski to drop from the shoe freely; With such a binding I- soarrange the forward portion ofthe structure that the toe portion of theshoe can be moved away from the ski (e. g. from be,- tween the toeplates) by "movementof the toe from the ski at anangle of substantiallyeo wan respect to the ski or at an angle of less than 96 with respect tothe forward end of the ski,yand I hold the toe portion against suchmotion re}- leasably on'the occurrence of an abnormal stressvinsuflicient to break normal bones. As a result the shoe can be freedfrom the ski (wholly or sufliciently) without anysubstantial preliminarybackward movement ofthe shoe, and accordingly the'heel' of thes'hoe canbe tied to the ski astight; 1y as maybe desired without affecting theielea-sabilityof the ski on the occurrence of anacciident. Preferably Iso arrange the connection or the toe portion of the shoe thattl l'ningthe shoe on an axis located in or on the sole ofythe shoe at or near thetoe, and substantially parallel with thelength of the ski, will releasethe toe. Preferably also 'I' hold thetoe portion against the releasingmovement yieldingly, e. g. frictionally or by springpressure, ratherthan; positively, and

preferably also I employ toe plates both to Serve their normal purposeof preventing side motion of the shoe toe and tohojldtheshoe toe to :orto.- ward the ski. For example, the space between the toe plates may beleft open at their tops (e g. t e strap c m only used acr s the to beingomitted) 1 and. one or both. toepla'tes inclined lur- 3 wardly slightly,the plates being given silfiiclent stiffness to keep the shoe betweenthem normally but yielding to permit the escape of the toe under a twistor other thrust of the shoe insufficient to break a bone. As anotherexample, the toe plates (or one of them) may have a rib or nobprojecting over the top of the shoe sole, perhaps with an upwardlyinclined sole-engaging face, but projecting over the sole to such aslight degree and held aboveit with such a yielding pressure that on theexertion of an unusual turning effort the rib or nob yields sufficientlyto permit the escape of the shoe. In contrast to such prior devices as Ihave referred to above, it will be observed that escape of the shoe fromthe binding with a device of my invention, does not require a backwardmovement of theheel or in any other way the exertion of more force thanthe legbones can stand usually, regardless of how strongly the heel maybe tied down to the ski.

The'accompanying drawings illustrate the best form of my invention ofwhichI am now aware, and at the same'time are to be understood asrepresentative of the broader form ofmy invention described above andclaimed hereafter. Figure 1 of those drawings is a side elevation ofa'ski'with the binding and an attached shoe. Figure 2 is an elevationota portion of, the same ski, binding and shoe, drawn' to a largerscale. Figure 3 is a section about on the line of 3-3 of Fig. 2,looking. in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 4 is a plan view of thetoeplate portion of the binding.

'lTl-le ski I and shoe 2 are conventional, the latter as customaryhaving a quite thick sole 3. A sole thus orflotherwise given somegreater rigidity than the sole of an ordinarywalkin'g shoe is helpful.

Primarily the ski binding illustrated comprises a pair of more or lessyerticaltoe plates 6 and 1 and a conventional cable binding lying in anotch 8 inthe back of the heel of the shoe and thence extendingforwardly and downwardly. Substantially in accordance with commonpractices the toe plates 6 and 1 mayextend toward each other at 'theirforward ends so that the shoe sole 3 tends to be wedged between them asthe shoe is drawn forward by thecable binding, and may have horizontalflanges, 9 and to rest on the ski I and which have slots/to receiveattachingscrews so that they areadjustable on the ski beneath a ,coverplate II that is screwed firmly to theski when the toe plates 6 and Ihave been placed in proper position with respect to the sole 3 of theshoe. As customary, a metal plate l2 may be .usedon the ski I beneaththe shoe. Thecable binding per se illustrated is a common form.Primarily it consists of a rather stifi coiled spring l4, looped aroundthe back of the heel in the notch 8, and having at its two ends cables15 and 16 which pass underahook, such as I1, fastened toeach side of theski below the foot and which thence extend'forward to.a device, showngenerally. at l8 and incorporating a. finger lever l9, whereby thespring M can be drawn tightly around theheelandthus the heel heldtightly to the ski (as shown in the drawings), or loosened and releasedto permit the shoe to be drawn out of the toe'plates 6 and 1. e 7 Theinner or shoe-engaging faces of the two toe plates 6 and l aresubstantially plane,(Figs. 3 'and 4) ,Also it is obvious of course thatthe toe plates 8 and l cooperate with the cable bind ing l4, etcL, tomaintain the latter in effect in the shoe sole to pass between themunder the pull of the binding spring I 4), so that if in any way theshoe is removed from between the toe plates 6 and 1 the remainder of thebinding leaves the shoe entirely free of the ski. Also the usual strapcrossing the shoe toe between the toe plates to prevent the escape ofthe shoe from between the toe plates is omitted, so that the spacebetween the plates is open at their tops and accordingly the shoe canescape frombetween the toe plates by movement of its toe portiondirectly away (90) from the ski or by movement away from the ski at anangle of less than 90 to the forward end 2| of the ski. However thewedging of the shoe into the (tapered space between) toe plates by thebinding spring I4 tends to hold the shoe from such escape frictionally,

' and also in the present instance the toe plates 6 'holdi ngthe shoeheel tothe 'ski (since the space between the'to'e plates is too narrowto permit and l are inclined inwardly slightly at their tops (see Fig. 3to further assure the retention of the shoe between the plates. Howeverthe friction, the inward inclination of the toe plates, and theyieldability of the metal of the toe plates about axes substantiallyparallel to the lengtnof the ski, as will be understood from thedrawing, are so predetermined in the present instance that, while theirjoint effect is sufficient to hold theshoe in place between the toeplates under the normal stresses of skiing, they are insufficient toretain the shoe toe between theplates on the occurrence of an abnormalstress insufllcient to break a leg bone. In particular in the presentinstance, twisting of the foot by a stress insufiicient to break normalleg bones, is capable of rotating theshoe 2 on an axis extendingsubstantially parallel to the length of the shoe and substantially atone or the other of the corners of the shoe sole 3, (forcing one or theother of the toe plates 6 and I to spread outwardly), and thus liftingone side or the other of the shoe sole from the toe plates and therebyreleasing the sole from between the plates completely. Metal toe platesof material and dimensions heretofore commonly used are bothsufiiciently rigid and sufiiciently yielding for the present purposes.As will be understoodfrom this of course, the toe plates 6 and Isubstantially prevent rotation of the shoe on the ski around an axisperpendicular to the top and running surfaces of the ski. An inwardinclinationof each toe plate of the order of say 5 to 10 from thevertical is suflicient for the present purposes.

It follows accordingly that while the binding thus described serves tohold the ski to the shoe securely under. the stresses of normal skiing,accidents tending to throw abnormal stresses on the skiers limb, bringabout release of the toe portion of the shoe from the toe plates beforethose stresses become great enough to break a bone, and since theportion of the binding that ties the heel to the ski depends on theretention of .the toe between the toe plates for its effectiveness, theshoe (in the present instance) is completely released from the skiimmediately after the toe leaves the toe plates. I

It will be understood of course thatmy inven tion is not limited to theconstruction or to the details of constructions illustrated anddescribed above, except as appears hereafter in the claims.

I claim: l 1. A ski binding to hold a-shoe to a ski having toe plates toengage the opposite sides of the forward portion of the shoe and adevice to hold the heel of the shoe toward the ski and the foracterizedby the fact thatthe binding is open above, the toe plates at their sideshave inner surfaces inclined inwardly and upwardly over parts of theforward portion of the shoe to retain the forward portion of the shoe tothe ski, and the toe plates are yieldable about axes substantiallyparallel to the length of the ski to permit the upward escape of theshoe from the toe plates on the exertion of abnormal stresses on saidinclined surfaces.

2. A ski binding to hold a shoe to a ski having toe plates to engage theopposite sides of the forward portion of the shoe and a cable type ofbinding to yieldingly hold the heel of the shoe toward the ski and theforward end of the shoe toward the toe plates, characterized by the factthat the ski binding is open above, the inner shoe-engaging surfaces ofthe toe plates are substantially plane, the toe plates are inclinedinwardly to retain the forward portion of the shoe to the ski, and thetoe plates are yieldable about axes substantially parallel to the lengthof the ski to permit the upward escape of the shoe from the toe plateson the exertion of abnormal stresses on the toe plates in an upwarddirection.

EVERE'I'I L. MIILARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,691,512 Berge Nov. 13, 19282,108,167 Gerber Feb. 15, 1938 2,123,786 Koller July 12, 1938 2,140,757Merrill Dec. 20, 1938 2,152,181 Elliott Mar. 28, 1939 2,373,128McIlvaine Apr. 10, 1945

